The Hermitage Pre-School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 21/04/2004 Inspector Name Anne Walker

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Hermitage Pre-School Setting Address The Hermitage Wilford Road Ruddington Nottinghamshire NG11 6EL

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name The Hermitage Pre-School Address The Hermitage Wilford Road, Ruddington Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG11 6EL

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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ABOUT THE INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public that the nursery education for funded three and four year old children is of an acceptable quality. Inspection of nursery education also identifies strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the early learning goals (elgs) by the end of the Foundation Stage. This inspection report must be made available to all parents. If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

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Information about the setting

Hermitage Pre-School opened in December 1967. It operates from a large hall in a building called the Hermitage, which is a church owned facility. The Pre-School also have access to a kitchen area, with toilets adjacent to the main hall. There is a large enclosed garden for outdoor play. The Pre-School is committee run and serves the local community. There are currently 35 children 2 to 5 years on the roll. This includes 7 funded three-year-olds and 0 funded four-year-olds. Children attend a variety of sessions. The setting currently have no children who have special educational needs or speak English as a second language. The group opens 5 days a week during school term. Sessions are from 09:00 until 12:00. Six staff work with the children, 3 of whom have early years childcare qualifications. There are 2 staff currently working towards a qualification.

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Information about the setting

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

Hermitage Pre-School offers good quality education where children make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Teaching is generally good. Staff plan a good range of activities. The system for assessing and recording children's development is in the process of being changed and staff are not yet fully confident in its use. They are not using the useful information gathered in their evaluations to assist the planning of children's next steps in learning. This occasionally impacts on the delivery of the curriculum. Aspects of communication language and literacy and mathematics are not always done with the regularity and consistency of approach that allows children to practice and consolidate their learning. Staff present activities well. The session is organised effectively so that children have good opportunities to spend time at activities of their choosing and can develop their ideas. Group times are purposeful and of a suitable

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How effective is the nursery education?

duration to maintain young children's interest. There are good systems in place to support children with special needs or English as an additional language. Leadership and management are generally good. The committee meet regularly and staff attend these meetings. At most pre-school sessions a committee member is available so information can be quickly shared. Yearly appraisals with staff provide opportunities to consider their development. They budget to allow staff to attend training wherever possible. The partnership with parents is generally good. Parents are well represented on the management committee. They receive clear information about the Foundation Stage curriculum and take part in a rota to help at the sessions. This allows them to gain an insight into how the curriculum is delivered. Parents' evenings are held to keep parents up to date with their child's progress. However, the setting does not have

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How effective is the nursery education?

systems to encourage parents to contribute what they know about their child's ongoing development.

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What is being done well?

• Children show curiosity and interest when taking part in activities for example, experimenting with different tools to fill bottles with water. They have a positive approach to new experiences offered by the staff and take part with enthusiasm. • Children play imaginatively and use the props available to them. Younger children play happily alongside each other when engaged in the same play, for example, making cups of tea. Older children play co-operatively and use their language skills to develop their imaginative ideas. • The staff have good relationships with children. They foster their self-esteem well and help them to be active learners.

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • The children enjoy books and use them independently. They understand that in English they are read from front to back. They have good listening skills during group story times and participate well in response to adult questions.

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What needs to be improved?

• the use of the new systems of assessment, so that staff have increased confidence in its implementation and can use the information gathered to inform planning for children's next steps in learning • the consistency of teaching methods to help children develop letter formation, and the regularity of opportunities, for older and more able children, to link sounds to letters, and to count and recognise numbers 1-10 • opportunities for parents to share what they know about their child's development and for the information to be used to inform future planning.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made limited progress since the last inspection. Staff have attended a variety of training which has developed their knowledge and skills in delivering aspects of the curriculum. In most areas they do this well. They have an understanding of the learning potential of their planned activities, however on occasions they miss opportunities in daily routines to promote some areas of the curriculum to fully enhance children's learning potential. Assessment procedures were developed following the last inspection and are currently being changed to reflect the stepping stones for children's learning. Although the proposed systems are potentially good, they have not been fully implemented. Therefore, they are not effective when planning future activities based on children's stage of learning. Staff were involved in most of the mathematical activities and took opportunities to ask open ended questions to develop children's knowledge and sustain their

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What has improved since the last inspection?

interest. They demonstrated a good understanding of the learning intentions of these activities. At present the setting has mainly three-year-olds and therefore most children are not at the stage where concepts of addition and subtraction would be introduced. However, the staff still miss practical opportunities found in daily routines to develop mathematical understanding, for example counting. Staff have attended a range of training including mathematics, but training in planning and assessment has not been undertaken although this is planned for the coming year. Information for parents about the curriculum has been developed and gives helpful information. The parent rota enables them to gain a valuable insight into the purpose of activities. Parents and staff share information verbally about the child's development. However, they have not established systems to use what parents know about their children when planning for children's next steps in learning.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good The children are well behaved and understand the expectations and boundaries set by the staff. They are kind to their peers, older children can share and take turns. Children are developing personal independence and help tidy away, put their coats on and help serve their snack. They are curious and engage in activities with interest and have a positive approach to new experiences.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children's language skills are developing well. They talk about events at home and playgroup with the adults. Older children are beginning to use talk to organise their imaginative play. They access books independently and enjoy stories on their own and in a larger group. All of the children are keen mark makers and some children are beginning to form recognisable letters. They don't have regular enough opportunities to link sounds to letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children show an interest in numbers and counting. They enjoy singing number rhymes and songs. However, they do not have regular enough opportunities to count and recognise numbers to 10. They are beginning to investigate mathematical problems, such as capacity, when they play with containers in the water tray. They are able to describe size and older children know the names of some familiar shapes.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children talk about their lives at home and pre-school, describing events that have taken place. They have an awareness of the lives of people familiar to them, such as the lollipop lady and police officer. They are keen investigators and use their senses appropriately to describe how things look and feel. For example, describing how the cornflour activity felt and looked when you dribbled it. They can operate simple equipment such as battery operated toys and a cassette recorder.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good They have increasing control when using a range of tools such as scissors, glue brushes and pencils. Children use large equipment such as trikes, scooters and the climbing frame confidently, and are able to climb and jump, landing appropriately. When using this equipment they show an awareness of space in relation to others and steer a pathway to avoid collision, or wait until there is clear space to jump. They are developing an awareness of healthy practices with regard to hygiene.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Older children play imaginatively, using the equipment in the home corner to extend their play. They are beginning to play co-operatively and negotiate ideas when role playing. They have a good repertoire of songs which they sing from memory. They make good use of a wide range of materials to build constructions, collages, paintings and drawings. Children can often describe what they are doing and sometimes talk about their creations.

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Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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OUTCOME OF THE INSPECTION

The provision is acceptable and is of good quality overall. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. The next inspection will take place in three to four years time.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

• use the new systems of assessment to inform planning for children's next steps in learning. Ensure that the implementation of the system is effective and staff are confident in using it. • develop consistency of teaching methods to help children learning letter formation. Ensure the regularity of opportunities for older and more able children to link sounds to letters, and to count and recognise numbers 1-10 • develop opportunities for parents to share what they know about their child's development and for the information to be used to inform future planning.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

The provider must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents and to the Local Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next inspection of funded nursery education.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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